Curtain



N l M Pflu H (No Model.)

No. 443,981. Patented Dec. 30, 1890.

moses.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

EDWARD F. BRAREN, OF FERN\VOOD, ILLINOIS.

CURTAIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,981, dated December30, 1890.

Application filed May 1, 1889. Serial No. 309,221. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. BRAREN, a citizen of the United States,residingin Fernwood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtains, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in curtains suspended by hooksfrom overhanging rods or poles, and has for its object the connection ofthe curtain with the hook in such manner that there can be no directstrain of the hook upon the curtain, and therefore no injury to thecurtain by the hook, while at the same time additional strength is giventhe curtain to resist its detachment from the hooks.

My invention is particularly adapted to and desirable for curtainsemployed for conceal-4 ing the occupants of berths in sleeping-cars, butis equally well adapted for curtains for the purposes of decoratingwalls, for screens, or for doorways and other uses where the curtainsare liable to be pulled upon and injured when attached directly tohooks, as has heretofore been the practice.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 represents a perspective View of a curtain embodying myinvention; Fig. 2, a vertical section through the same with one of thehooks shown in side elevation, and Fig. 3 a front elevation-of a curtainembodying my invention.

The curtain A, usually of quite a heavy and dense fabric, when used. forsleeping-car purposes has for the purposes of additional strength at itsside edge a plait a, formed by turning the fabric of the curtain overupon itself, and at its top edge another and much wider plait b,likewise formed; but, as will be obvious, while such plaits aredesirable, they may be omitted in the employment of my invention and thecurtain have all and more strength to resist the cutting action of thehooks than with the plait under the old form of construction, in whichthe hooks are passed directly through the fabric of the curtain andusually but one thickness, because inserted through the edge of the foldof the plait, a button or bar on the end of the hook serving to preventthe hook for a time from pulling through. By my invention, however, thisdirect attachment of the'hooks to the curtain is avoided by means of astrip B, which may be, and preferably is, of a different fabric than thecurtain, which strip B is secured by stitching, riveting, or othersuitable means to a curtain on its rear side and extends along the upperedge thereof. This strip B at suitable intervals is perforated, as shownat O, and the perforations strengthened by means of metallic eyelets c,or may be by button-hole stitching, for the reception of thesuspending-hooks, the upper edge of said strips being preferably leftfree, as shown, so as to permit the insertion of the shanks of thehooks; but, if desired, the strip may be sewed or riveted along both ofits longitudinal edges, providing it has sufficient depth or width toaccommodate the upturned ends of the hook-shanks.

The hooks D employed for suspending my construction of curtain havehookshaped shanks d, which after being inserted through the eyeletsmaybe closed to prevent their accidental detachment; but when very stififab rics' are used the clamping effect of the curtain and the strip willhold the hooks in the perforations, although said hooks are not closed.

In practice it is proposed to transversely stitch or rivet the strip attwo or more points between each pair of hooks, as shown, and so also thecurtain may be provided with the usual plaits e in order to give itbreadth at its lower portion.

By the employment of the strip B and se curing of the hooks thereto, asabove de scribed, it is not possible for the hooks to tear or injure thecurtain, for the strip serves to equally distribute the strain of thehooks upon the curtain to such an extent that the strip will give waybefore the curtain, and, as a matter of fact, and if the curtain issufficiently strong, no strain to which a curtain is ever subjectedunder the roughest usage will result in tearing the hooks out of thestrips, one important advantage of the strips being that they may be ofa much tougher fabric than is ever or can be employed in thecurtains-as, for example, a heavy webbing or duck-and all this Withoutmarring the external appearance of the curtain, but rather promoting itseffect to a desired degree.

The importance of my invention may be appreciated when it is understoodthat sleeping-car curtains, in particular, are frequently taken down andput up, and that in putting up these curtains it is the practice of theporters to throw the curtain and jerk the hooks into connection with thesuspendingrod and the same also in taking the curtain down, and as aresult, as the hooks are-now secured, they are frequently torn out andthe curtain ruined for further use before it is as a rule much more thanhalf-Worn. It may also be observed that sleeping-car curtains aresubject to heavy strainsupon their hooks by passengers and train-menpassing back and forth through the cars during the night described.

I EDWARD F. BRAREN. lVitnesses:

A. MILo BENNETT, W. R. OMOHUNDRO.

